Browns, Bowling & Bullshit

I know why most of you are here today, so let’s just get right into it. Welcome to week 31 of Trust Fun. Please put on your hard hats.

I am at war with the zero time Super Bowl Champion Cleveland Browns.

It all started last week when NFL teams started releasing their schedules. Always a big deal, fans froth at the mouth seeing who their team is playing & whether it’s home or away. Only the NFL could make a schedule release, where 90% of the match-ups are 100% the same year over year, such an ordeal.

All the teams are in a social media dick measuring contest on who can go the most viral & be the most creative with their schedule release. Something that NFL teams are historically not (creative).

So what happens? Well, just like in modern day Hollywood where there’s an inability to come up with an original thought, they tend to borrow IP from more creative folks. The Patriots parodied Oscar winning movie, Good Will Hunting. The Chargers parodied billion dollar video game franchise, Sims. The Cleveland Browns parodied start-up Chicago based jeans company, Mugsy.

Wait what?

At first, it seems the Browns decided to go with a bowling themed video. Great, no problem at all. Bowling is silly & goofy.

Then, they introduce iconic bowler, Pete Weber. Obviously a great call. He’s irreverent, a bit of an inside joke & a fan favorite.

So far, no problems at all. Bowling & Pete Weber are fair game. No one owns them. There’s literally nothing wrong with either of those things.

But next, as you see above, the shots look VERY similar to a commercial we made about a year ago at Mugsy.

Pete hitting a strike then giving finger guns. Pete screaming his signature “Who do you think you are? I am!” right at the camera (I’ll be honest, this one is also fair game but the sequence & way it’s shot is just soooo similar). And lastly, Pete lying down in front of the lane with the camera tracking left to right.

Oh, did I mention, it’s the same bowling alley?!

Look at our respective twitter headers… Like seriously?

So, like I said above, we went to war. We called them & the NFL out. Demanded they buy 1 million pairs of Mugsy Jeans. Threatened to sue (which unfortunately we don’t know how to do but it sounded cool). And maybeeee, some free media would come out of this.

Here’s what happened:

Publications like Sports Illustrated, Awful Announcing, Outkick, & many more picked up the story.

The story sat on the front page of reddit/NFL all day Friday.

Though this is great from an earned media perspective this doesn’t resolve the issue at hand… The Browns CLEARLY used our ad as inspiration. That much is clear. And that much is ok. If all they did was use Pete Weber in a bowling alley we wouldn’t have a case here. That is as ‘fair game’ as fair game gets.

But, when you match things, shot for shot, from someone smaller than you, who surely doesn’t have a leg to stand on compared to an NFL team, that is bullshit & classless.

Browns: “Can I copy your homework?”

Mugsy: “Fine, but change up some stuff so the teacher doesn’t notice.”

Browns: “Ok.”

But, we all noticed. And the worst part is we (probably) aren’t going to do anything because we don’t have the resources or the budget. We are a company of 11 people putting every dollar we have back into it.

But, if the roles were reversed & we copied the NFL in any shape or form, trust me, there would be a C&D on our doorstep.

The offer stands tho. The NFL must purchase one million pairs of jeans. That is our demands.

Thanks for reading & hope everyone has an awesome week.

Except for the Browns, of course.